Four European country-code domains share one rule: be established anywhere in the European Economic Area and you can register them directly. One EEA address covers all of them, and a lot of people pay for a trustee they do not need.
What counts as EEA presence
The European Economic Area is the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Any one of these usually satisfies the rule:
- you are a citizen of an EU or EEA country;
- you are resident in one;
- your company or other organisation is registered or established in one.
The key point for anyone running sites across borders: a single address in a single member state covers all four extensions below. You do not need a presence in France to hold .fr, only somewhere in the EEA.
The domains this unlocks
.eu
Open to EU citizens wherever they live, and to residents and organisations established in the EU or EEA. The registry made citizenship alone enough after Brexit so that EU nationals in third countries kept access. Full rules on the .eu explainer.
.fr
Open to individuals and organisations established in the EEA, plus Switzerland. Because Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are in the EEA, they are already covered. See the .fr explainer, which also covers the substantiation procedure the registry allows against a holder.
.it
Open to citizens, residents and organisations of the EEA, plus Switzerland, San Marino and Vatican City. Detail on the .it explainer.
.hu
Open to anyone resident or established in the EEA, and since 2025 the policy has widened further to applicants elsewhere who can show an activity that justifies the name. See the .hu explainer.
Brexit and .eu
UK registrants without another qualifying link lost .eu eligibility when the transition period ended. If you are a British citizen living in the UK with a UK-only company, you are outside the rule now. Your options are an EEA presence, an EU or EEA citizenship you already hold, or a trustee. The .eu trustee comparison covers the providers, and flags the eligibility clause that most of them do not quote.
Note
Brexit did not touch .fr, .it or .hu
What does not count
An EEA address is not a master key. It does nothing for:
- .no, where the rule is a Norwegian organisation number or national identity number specifically. Norway is in the EEA, and it still does not help, because the requirement is national, not regional.
- .de, which is not an eligibility rule at all. Anyone can hold a .de domain; the only question for a holder abroad is a German address for legal service.
- .ca and .au, which want a Canadian or Australian presence and have no European route.
If you have no EEA presence
Two routes, weighed in full in trustee or a local company:
- A trustee for the specific extension, fastest and cheapest for one or two domains;
- An EEA entity, which removes the problem for all four extensions at once and is worth it if you want several of them or are trading in Europe anyway.
Next
Common questions
Is an Estonian e-residency company enough for .eu, .fr, .it and .hu?
An Estonian company is an EEA company, so it satisfies the establishment test for these four. E-residency itself is a digital identity, not residence; the qualifying thing is the company registered in Estonia, not the card.
Does a virtual office or mail-forwarding address count?
It depends on the registry and on whether it amounts to a real establishment. A registered company at that address is on solid ground. A forwarding address with nothing behind it is the kind of thing a substantiation procedure is designed to test, which the .fr explainer covers.
I am an EU citizen living outside the EU. Can I get these?
For .eu, yes, citizenship alone is enough since the post-Brexit change. For .fr, .it and .hu the test is usually residence or an established organisation, so citizenship abroad may not be sufficient on its own. Check each explainer.
Last updated September 2026. Eligibility wording differs between these registries and is occasionally revised. The linked explainers carry the detail and the dates.